By Humberto Martínez Staff writer

Published 1:00 am, Sunday, September 27, 2009

COLONIE — With all the painting and wallpapering that Harry and Arlene Howansky do, it would be reasonable to expect their home to change often in appearance. Their frequent scraping and plastering doesn't happen in their home, though, but in those of neighbors in need.

The Howanskys are part of Umbrella of Colonie — a program that organizes senior citizen contract workers to do repairs in the homes of senior citizens at a flat rate. They said the program tries to encourage seniors to live at home by helping them with around-the-house tasks and handyman work, without having to contract a stranger.

Harry, 75, and Arlene, 74, have replaced faucets, painted rooms and fences, mowed lawns and washed windows. The tasks are simple, they said, but do require some physical capacity.

"There's little repair things around the house that when people get older they can't do by themselves," Harry said. "Most of the people we deal with are women whose husbands have passed away."

The work isn't unfamiliar to the duo. Harry said that he had a business for 15 years installing wallpaper and painting the interiors of homes until he suffered an injury that wouldn't let him keep doing it. After he recovered, he saw the Umbrella of Colonie soliciting for volunteers at his church and wanted to get back to work.

"I like to be active all the time, I really need to be doing something," Harry said. "Either tearing something apart or putting it back together."

The couple are part of a 24-member team that helps the 109 senior citizens who are members of the program, said Ed Neary, executive director of Colonie Senior Service Centers. The program was started about a year ago, inspired by a similar program in Schenectady. He said Colonie Senior Service Centers was already providing a wealth of other services — transportation, meals, recreation — to the largest senior citizen community in the Capital Region. Helping seniors with their repair tasks would add to the list of possible needs that would help them stay in their homes.

"We want to keep as many senior citizens independent and in their homes as possible," Neary said. "Prevent them from having to move into institutions like nursing homes."

Rosemary Cabinski, 75, of Colonie is one of the clients the Howanskys have served through the program. A widow, Cabinski said she injured herself in a fall and is no longer to do any strenuous housework.

She said housework that would otherwise be neglected — her most recent request was to have her windows washed and curtains laundered — gets done and she doesn't worry about the people doing the job.

"I go for the cheaper price, but you wanna be happy with whoever is doing it, too," Cabinski said. "I'm very satisfied with these people. I couldn't say anything bad about them. And I feel like I can trust them."

All Umbrella of Colonie workers undergo background checks, Neary said. Clients of the program pay a flat annual fee of $250 to the organization, which pays for an initial home inspection and administrative fees, then $12 per hour to the workers. The senior citizens are expected to pay for supplies and materials, but Howansky said he usually uses the money he earns to cover some costs. He said he considers it volunteer work.

"From our standpoint, we feel that it's important to give something back," Harry said. "We've done a lot of work. To give back to the community, I think you have to do that. This is one way to help people that are close to our own age."

Staff writer Humberto Martínez can be reached at 454-5057 or by email at hmartinez@timesunion.com